Rice was in fine form at St James’ Park on Saturday as West Ham played out a 1-1 draw with Eddie Howe’s Newcastle in the Premier League.
Hammers boss David Moyes was open about the prospect of Rice moving on from West Ham after the match, but insists it would take a British record transfer fee, meaning it would eclipse the £105m paid by Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez.
Premier League sides are expected to be in the mix for Rice, but Newcastle may be unlikely to join them.
It is suggested that at British transfer record fee levels, the England midfielder would likely be beyond the Magpies’ budget.
Despite being the richest club in world football on paper, Newcastle have taken a measured approach in the transfer market.
Newcastle did though splash over £60m on Alexander Isak last summer.
They spent much of the summer insisting the then Real Sociedad striker was beyond their financial reach, but then snapped him up for a big fee.
It remains to be seen if they might rethink their budget if Rice was willing to move to St James’ Park.
